The methodology for a just-released study about teens and texting was new, but the findings don't seem to break much new ground – unless the news media had picked up on what the researchers didn't highlight. More on the reporting in a minute; first the study, published by researchers at University of Texas, Dallas, in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology. Past studies of teens' "texting … [Read more...] about With this teen texting study, only methodology was news
youth
Kids these days: ‘Better than we were,’ the President says
President Obama gave a preliminary statement last Sunday right after the jury gave its verdict in the Trayvon Martin case, but then after watching the controversy unfold in the days that followed, he said yesterday (7/19/13) in the White House briefing room that he thought it might be useful to expand on that a bit. Besides the calmness in his voice and quiet in the room for those 17+ minutes, … [Read more...] about Kids these days: ‘Better than we were,’ the President says
Stickers, emoji & other social-media conversation add-ons
You may've noticed this too: Online and on-phone conversations have gotten very mixed-media – very artful, in a sense. Have you noticed that our children are among the most creative mixed-media conversationalists now? It's delightful to see the fun they have with this. Take stickers, for example. Because they're now part of Version 3 of the Path app, as I mentioned in my last post, and Path's … [Read more...] about Stickers, emoji & other social-media conversation add-ons
‘Less is more’ for mobile teens
Wired speculates that, because some Asian texting apps – such as LINE, WeChat, Gangnam Style and Kakaotalk – have "slick user interfaces that focus on simplicity and visually pleasing graphics," these fast-growing apps will soon cross the Pacific, and at least one of them will take off in the US too. "Today, less is more." But Wired seems to contradict itself a bit, saying they're also adding … [Read more...] about ‘Less is more’ for mobile teens
Consider the possibility of kids’ self-regulation of digital media
Are iPads bad for little children? I ask that metaphorically, for two reasons: because iPads represent a host of tablets and other touchscreen devices children seem to play with joyfully and intuitively, and because that attraction makes it extra hard to imagine kids could self-regulate that iPad play. And yet they do. Take Gideon, for example ("Giddy" to himself and his family). In some of the … [Read more...] about Consider the possibility of kids’ self-regulation of digital media